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Physical Fitness to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes
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I can say with confidence that physical activity and nutrition are critical in preventing or at worst slowing down the onset of Type 2 diabetes. All of my older siblings (2 brothers and 1 sister) have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I know two of them are suffering several types of complications.
My younger brother and I have normal blood glucose levels. We have little abdominal fat. He and I are much fitter than our diabetic siblings. We work at maintaining a high level of physical activity. I have lost 10 pounds very slowly in the past year. This has enabled me to reduce my abdominal fat and focus on building more lean muscle.
My wife has been instrumental in helping me manage my nutrition. She has mentioned and provided several counts of vegetables per day. I still don't know what that means. Together, we have avoided foods high in trans fats, saturated fats and hydrogenated oils - just by reading the labels of prepared foods.
I believe the tough part of maintaining good nutrition is thinking nutrition is the same as diet. The word diet makes me think of a short term event. Whereas, nutrition is more long term, more of a lifestyle.
This has been the secret to my success. What is your secret?
Commit My Life to Exercise....
Well, I have committed a portion of my life to exercise and good nutrition. Because at this point in time, this combination has worked very well for me.
So far I have avoided Type 2 Diabetes despite the strong occurrence in my family. I have brought down my cholesterol numbers so much I am about to have my doctor reduce my Lipitor dosage to 5 mg from 10 mg. My lifestyle is under my control. I eat what I need and no more than I need. I exercise several times per week - aerobics and weight lifting.
Exercise without nutrition leads to health complications. For example, years ago my cholesterol was extremely high even when I exercises 2 hours daily - without proper nutrition. Also, nutrition without exercise leads to health complications. Your body needs exercise to burn off excess calories; push the muscles to become more sensitive to insulin to use glucose for additional energy.
I view all physical activity as exercise - especially if it makes me sweat.
Let's commit to more sweating.
No Diabetes - No Pain
Who wants to prick their fingers several per day? Well, that is the ritual of most diabetics if they want to control their blood glucose.
I have heard of "No pain, no gain." I prefer, "no pain, no pain." I achieve that by avoiding pre-diabetic blood glucose levels.
It is so hard!
This is like when we were kids! We knew that we had homework due, we knew that we were wasting time instead of doing it, but we still procrastinated. Unfortunately, now we are talking about our health and our lives. This is a lot more serious than just a bad grade.
So sometimes I have the time to work out. I just don't do it! I know that I am making the wrong decision for my body and my health, but I make that poor decsion anyway. And...I actually enjoy exercise.
A friend once said to us "discipline is freedom". It takes a while to absorb that comment, but it is so true. So my goal is to try to become more disciplined! I don't know another way to say that.
I think that to become more disciplined requires creating a routine. I was much better if I did my workout in the morning. Becauce I leave it for the end of the day. I have the range of excuses possible to not get it done. The best one - "I am so tired"! It's true, but there is one more thing I need to do before I can rest and I do not always think of things that way.
So my goal, is still to do at least 30 minutes a day. So far the grade for this class, a C!
How about you? Is adding more physical activity to your daily routine easy for you or hard as it is for me? Sign up and begin to share your thoughts.
calypso
www.imtypefree.com
live your life
Physical Activity not Hard
Increasing your level of physical activity is easy - If you are committed to improving your health.
If you can't find the time to increase your physical activity, obviously you are not committed.
Easy physical activity
Hey Calypso,
If you love to dance. I would strongly recommend practicing to dance "salsa" at home. Aol Radio allows you to listen to "salsa" all day (or whichever music you like.) Then you and your significant other can go out to show off your skills. Whew, that will burn a lot calories.
Hi calypso, This is my first
Hi calypso,
This is my first post here so I hope I do this right. Instead of blocking 30 minutes I find it easier to do exercise in 5, 10, or 15 minute intervals throughout the day. It might be easier to start out with 5 minutes and gradually increase the time? I know a lap around my block is almost 1/4 a mile and I can do it in 10 minutes. That sure helps in the morning when time is short. I also have a stationary bike in the back bedroom with a TV so I can ride and be "entertained" when the weather is nasty. I think you'll find it easier to do 5 minutes at a time with more frequency than trying to keep moving for 30 or more minutes at a time.
great idea kismetcommand!
This is what we call thinking outside the box! I knew I had to do 30 minutes, so that's what I try to do. Breaking into more manageable blocks never even occured to me. Thank you. I will start today. I feel a huge sense of relief.
Why is the idea of 30 minutes of exercise so stressful?
calypso
www.imtypefree.com
live your life
exercise time
Why is the idea of 30 minutes of exercise so stressful?
Probably because I can think of 30 other things I could be doing with that time...LOL
I also build in exercise by parking the car at the end of the lot. I take stairs whenever I can. If I'm at home, I use the porch step as a "stair master" to do "steps". I have a Golden Retriever (Casey) and I take him when I walk. It helps to have "company". I can hardly wait for the weather to break so I can get out and garden. Even mowing the grass I look at as exercise...it counts. I've found that just 5 minutes of marching in place at meal times works. It's just a matter of getting those 5 minutes in several times a day. Eventually, you can make it 10 minutes. It all counts.....
A new way of thinking
Kismetcommand, I have started thinking your way and it is helping my stress levels. I am going to a meeting today and I am going to park far away and walk the long distance. I will count those minutes differently. I guess that's the beauty of wearing a pedometer as well. Ideally, we are supposed to have covered 10,000 steps a day. This would be a good way to keep track and reinforces the ability to focus on steps and activty rather than time. Thank you kismetcommand.
calypso
www.imtypefree.com
live your life
Bikram Yoga
A friend has invited me to attend a Bikram Yoga class this evening. This is something I have never heard about so I am excited to be trying it. I have been doing yoga on and off for about 30 years. I never stick with it like I should, but I really do love it. This will be an interesting class since this will be all new to me.
This approach apparently uses a heated room, like a sauna, but not quite.I hope I can breathe in there. The class is 90 minutes long and that in itself will be challenging. Will let you know how it goes.
calypso
www.imtypefree.com
live your life
Bikram Yoga
The class was indeed 90 minutes long!
The heat was comfortable although very warm. Will have to find out what the temperature is in the room. I went most of the distance, but about 80% in, just could not cool down fast enough. The good news is that the instructor encourages you to go at your own pace and to stop whenever you need to. I stopped and felt no stress at all while the other students went on with the class.
The most fascinating thing was that today, I felt no pain or tightness for pretty much all of the day. It is advised to take your second class within 24 hours of your first class. I did not, and sure enough about 24 hours later, I am beginning to feel the tightness and some soreness. Wish I had taken the class.
I will try this again a few more times to see if it is right for me. Will keep everyone updated. In the meantime, if there is a class in your neighborhood, you might want to try it and see of it works for you. Let us know.
calypso
www.imtypefree.com
live your life
Hot Yoga
So instead of saying Bikram Yoga, we will call this Hot Yoga!
I started getting sore after about 1 and 1/2 days. So I was forced to go back, to not stiffen up too much more. It was easier this time around. I still could not do the whole class, but I could stand the heat a lot better. This could get addictive, even though it is a very tough work out. Try it if you can. Although, once it starts getting warm out, walking is probably the thing to do. This might be a good winter alternative. Then, the heat's got to feel really good!
calypso
www.imtypefree.com
live your life
Hot Yoga
It turns out that the temperature is 105 - 110 degrees Fahrenheit and the humidity stays at 40%.
I have been handling it a little better than that first time. It is a very good way to stretch safely and to slowly gain strength. Since it's 90 minutes long, that's hard. But this kind of thing is a good idea of how we can slowly build our stamina in whatever we do.
Spring is almost here (temperature wise), so soon we get to start walking! It's not too soon to start thinking about it.
calypso
www.imtypefree.com
live your life
10,000 steps each day!
All of the pundits have spoken and they all say, we've got to walk and move throughout the day. Target has some cheap pedometers that we should stick somewhere on our bodies daily and check our moves. Who knows how many miles we will have walked if we walk 10,000 steps a day/
calypso
www.imtypefree.com
live your life
walked last night
I struggle with when is the best time to walk. I wonder if any time is better than any other time? Like for how well your body uses up stored fat? It probably doesn't matter.
calypso
www.imtypefree.com
live your life